Protecting the most vulnerable to cascading risks from climate extremes and the COVID-19

The measures enforced to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to dramatic changes in standard operating systems and the ordinary ways of doing businesses in all sectors that are established based on physical contacts and movements of people. This change is no exception in addressing natural disasters and managing disaster risks during the COVID-19, and responses should be different from previous disaster responses.

To prepare for appropriate measures to address the cascading impacts of the COVID-19 and climate hazards, understanding the risk profiles and identifying hotspots, where the risk of climate disasters and the pandemic is converging, is a prerequisite. In line with the above, this policy study informs the impending climate risk scenarios and their intersection with the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate policy actions that could ably protect communities at risk as well as to lay the foundations of resilient recovery of the poor and the vulnerable in South Asia.